Robbery! Worst series of calls on scoring play in NCAA history? Note the no-class Miami Athletic Department Response on Twitter. Trash in, trash out at Trash U.

And the official Miami,Trash U, athletic department twitter response?

Miami Hurricanes Verified account

‏ @ MiamiHurricanes

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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November 2, 20157:39 am

Cowgirl

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Amazing how many errors the officiating and replay crews made to steal the win for Trash U. And the Miami athletic department response on twitter says all you need to know about that school. I agree with Michael Wilbon that the correct result should be reinstated--- a Duke win on the field should be a Duke win in the record book. ♥

November 2, 201510:06 am

WalkingGator

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Miami is disgusting. Duke won the game fair and square and should be credited with the win.

November 2, 201511:57 am

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Dan Patrick, Mike and Mike, Michael Wilbon, and Chris Chase all agree: Change the outcome of the game to reflect the truth--- that Duke won.

It is important for the ACC to do what is right. Even though Commissioner Swofford was the UNC AD in the middle of the systemic and huge fake classes (3000 enrollments by athletes) scheme, the conference should pressure him to change the outcome of the game. A cheated for loss may cost Duke millions in lost revenue from the better bowl game the team would have played in otherwise. Do the right thing, ACC!

November 2, 201512:47 pm

mcfly85

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gametime said

puntrooski said Dan Patrick, Mike and Mike, Michael Wilbon, and Chris Chase all agree: Change the outcome of the game to reflect the truth--- that Duke won.

It is important for the ACC to do what is right. Even though Commissioner Swofford was the UNC AD in the middle of the systemic and huge fake classes (3000 enrollments by athletes) scheme, the conference should pressure him to change the outcome of the game. A cheated for loss may cost Duke millions in lost revenue from the better bowl game the team would have played in otherwise. Do the right thing, ACC!

Add Dan LeBatard, who calls it a "hollow victory."

Comparisons to the 1972 Olympic basketball theft by the USSR over the USA abound.

"There's a point where the comparisons with (Bo) Ryan or the PI calls or Duke gets all the calls break down.

And that's the video review process.

The officials on the field had every opportunity to end the game or throw a flag or do anything consistent with their actual job.

As I've stated elsewhere, I think they shirked that duty, hoping and expecting that something or someone else would bail them out from having to draw attention to themselves.

And their failure to do so was a serious black mark on either their competence or courage or both.

But the NCAA has in place a process designed to reverse travesties like that. Walton on the ground, with the ball in his hand is reviewable. I was in the media room prior to the arrival of any players and social media was already blowing up with photos showing that play. It's not the Zapruder film. It was clear, quick and obvious.

So, how did the video review guy not see this? For me, this is the single biggest un-answered question in this whole, sorry affair. In my very strong and considered opinion the only explanation is sheer, total incompetence.

I don't see how this guy ever works another college football game. The other folks? Sure but maybe after summer boot camp and a metaphorical flogging. But actions have consequences and these actions suggest finding other ways to spend Saturdays in the fall. "

November 2, 20151:17 pm

thedude

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And Colin Cowherd also supports reinstating Duke as the rightful victor.

Swofford's media release relates: "The replay official was not involved in the decision to pick up the flag."The ACC lawyers obviously played Bill Clinton with this artful language in the press release. Note the release does not state that the replay official did not communicate with the officials about the penalty called for the block in the back. Rather, the release just states the replay official was notinvolved in the decision. But, if the replay official communicates that "by the way, the block in the back was from the side," what do you think the officials are going to decide? Looks like a blatant lie and deception by the ACC/Swofford.

Again, Swofford was the leader of the most fraudulent athletic department in the history on college athletics, so why are we shocked that he would bring that fraud along with him as commissioner of the very same conference?

November 2, 20154:34 pm

wsmith-8

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thedude said And Colin Cowherd also supports reinstating Duke as the rightful victor.

Swofford's media release relates: "The replay official was not involved in the decision to pick up the flag."The ACC lawyers obviously played Bill Clinton with this artful language in the press release. Note the release does not state that the replay official did not communicate with the officials about the penalty called for the block in the back. Rather, the release just states the replay official was notinvolved in the decision. But, if the replay official communicates that "by the way, the block in the back was from the side," what do you think the officials are going to decide? Looks like a blatant lie and deception by the ACC/Swofford.Again, Swofford was the leader of the most fraudulent athletic department in the history on college athletics, so why are we shocked that he would bring that fraud along with him as commissioner of the very same conference?

Also, Stephen A. Smith, Paul Finebaum, and Jack Arute have strongly condemned the injustice and urged the ACC to restore the Duke victory.

November 2, 20155:17 pm

wsmith-8

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wsmith-8 said

thedude said And Colin Cowherd also supports reinstating Duke as the rightful victor.

Swofford's media release relates: "The replay official was not involved in the decision to pick up the flag."The ACC lawyers obviously played Bill Clinton with this artful language in the press release. Note the release does not state that the replay official did not communicate with the officials about the penalty called for the block in the back. Rather, the release just states the replay official was notinvolved in the decision. But, if the replay official communicates that "by the way, the block in the back was from the side," what do you think the officials are going to decide? Looks like a blatant lie and deception by the ACC/Swofford.Again, Swofford was the leader of the most fraudulent athletic department in the history on college athletics, so why are we shocked that he would bring that fraud along with him as commissioner of the very same conference?

Also, Stephen A. Smith, Paul Finebaum, and Jack Arute have strongly condemned the injustice and urged the ACC to restore the Duke victory.

Per ESPN's Heather Dinich

An NCAA rule prohibits the win from being overturned in Duke's favor, but Miami can make it right by forfeiting. "I guess another team could consider forfeiting," ACC commissioner (and UNCheat AD during athletic cheating system's birth) John Swofford told me today, "but I don't think that's going to be the case to my knowledge."

Gene Frenette: Miami-Duke abomination: Never again

Tue, Nov 3, 2015 @ 8:33 am | updated Tue, Nov 3, 2015 @ 8:50 am

Gene Frenette

At some point, an officiating error(s) in a football game is so egregious, there has to be a drastic change in the process.

The ACC finds itself at that crossroad because what transpired Saturday to end the Miami-Duke game was an abomination that must never be repeated. It was, at least in this television age of multiple instant-replay review angles, the worst miscarriage of justice in football history.

That’s not hyperbole. Nothing compares to the degree of officiating incompetence that occurred during and after Miami’s Corn Elder took the last of eight laterals 91 yards for a touchdown, resulting in UM’s 30-27 victory on the final play. The eye-popping kick return could potentially cost Duke the ACC Coastal Division title.

Nobody can dispute referee Jerry Magallanes and his seven-man crew totally messed up. If not, the ACC wouldn’t hand down one of the stiffest punishments possible, a two-game suspension for complete ineffectiveness.

A one-game penalty happens from time to time, but ACC commissioner John Swofford doubling the consequence indicates how strongly he felt about this debacle. It warranted suspension for the rest of the 2015 season, but that’s another issue.

The Return, which Miami is shamefully branding to make money, should have never been a touchdown for many reasons. One, replay shows conclusively that UM running back Mark Walton’s knee was down before the ball completely left his hand on one lateral. A proper evaluation of that review would have ended the game.

In addition, an obvious block in the back was missed at the UM 16. Maybe the worst judgment was erring in how they waved off another penalty, plus not flagging Miami’s Rashawn Scott for leaving the sideline to celebrate on the field before the play ended.

That means, even without declaring Walton’s knee down, there should have been two penalties assessed from the UM 16, giving the Hurricanes one untimed down from their own 4.

What makes this so inexcusable is officials had the benefit of hindsight to get it right. Yet they still blew it.

It’s one thing to miss a call, or improperly judge pass interference (as UM fans bring up about the 2002 Fiesta Bowl) in live time. But for an entire crew to review a play multiple times in slow motion, talk it over, and still get it wrong, that’s the height of incompetence.

By league rules, an outcome cannot be overturned. But the ACC and every league, where an indisputable bad call (only those subject to review) with no time left changes the outcome, should adopt a rule reserving the right to alter a final score.

It’s the right thing to do for college football. This could well cost Duke a spot in the ACC title game. Technically, it also kept Miami alive for the same reward. Now imagine the fan uproar if the same circumstances cost Alabama or Ohio State a berth in the College Football Playoff?

The ACC has a history of suspect officiating. The worst thing would be to throw up its hands and do nothing. This UM-Duke fiasco must never happen to anybody ever again.

Then Commissioner Swofford (AD at UNCarolina at height of the biggest athletic cheating scandal in NCAA history---3,000 fake class enrollments for basketball and football players over 20+ years) did something really stupid.

Gary Smits, esteemed sports writer at the Jascksonville Times-Union:

Miami's Corn Elder is the ACC special teams player of the week for a touchdown the ACC said never should have counted

BringItOn said Then Commissioner Swofford (AD at UNCarolina at height of the biggest athletic cheating scandal in NCAA history---3,000 fake class enrollments for basketball and football players over 20+ years) did something really stupid.

Gary Smits, esteemed sports writer at the Jascksonville Times-Union:

Miami's Corn Elder is the ACC special teams player of the week for a touchdown the ACC said never should have counted

Please note: None of the proceeds will go to buying guide dogs for ACC refs.

The Return has quickly become part of football/circus history. An eight-lateral kickoff return extravaganza on the final play, featuring at least four missed calls and nine minutes of replay befuddlement.

The incompetence made the V.A. look like the Mayo Clinic. On Sunday, the ACC suspended the officiating/replay crew, essentially admitting this is a case of bank robbery.

The Hurricanes didn't plan the heist. They are more like bystanders tossed a bag of cash by fleeing robbers, and they are not giving it back.

Larry Scott traveled to Durham, N.C., for his first game as UM's coach, and got a debut no UM fan who watched it will ever forget.

That's fine by a lot of people. They say the refs also jobbed Miami by calling a league-record 23 penalties, at least 22 of which were evidence Mike Krzyzewski also runs the ACC's football operation.

They'll dredge up games where bad calls cost the Hurricanes, and say they'll forfeit this one as soon as Notre Dame forfeits it 1988 win over Miami.

That misses the point.

Every game has bad calls. Sometimes they even out, sometimes they don't. Either way, you can't summon the NCAA to investigate every whistle.

On Saturday, there was no time left when (among other things) a Miami ball carrier's knee hit the turf. If not for the blown call, the game would have ended then and there.

Such existential gaffes happen every 25 or 50 years. In 1990, refs gave Colorado an extra down and the Buffaloes beat Missouri.

In 1940, Cornell got a fifth down with nine seconds left and beat Dartmouth 7-3.

Scoff if you like, but the Big Red was ranked No. 2 and had an 18-game winning streak. It took a couple of days for the game film to be developed.

Cornell officials forfeited when they saw the replay. Players didn't like the decision, but they eventually saw its wisdom.

"Winning evaporates in time," Bud Finneran told the Los Angeles Times in 2010. "But something like this goes on forever."

The ACC says there is no way to change Saturday's outcome. And the fact is most schools would shrug and take the charity. So what if the "loss" knocked Duke out of the top 25 and skewed its bowl prospects?

That's what makes this such a grand opportunity. Miami could say, "Duke truly won, so we will mark this as a loss for us and hope everybody does the same."

What do the Hurricanes have to lose?

The season already has a toe tag. Instead of going down as another year of faded glory, The U would be remembered for uncommon character.

Critics would write editorials like this, which the New York Herald Tribune penned 75 years ago.

"Sportsmanship remains in its true form so seldom seen these day that when it can be truly applied, as it can to Cornell University… there seems to again to be hope in the world."

John Feinstein Blog: Officials Need To Be Held Accountable

DURHAM, NC - OCTOBER 31: Head coach David Cutcliffe of the Duke Blue Devils waits for the ruling on whether or not the Miami Hurricanes final play was a touchdown during their game at Wallace Wade Stadium on October 31, 2015 in Durham, North Carolina. Miami won 30-27 on a last-second touchdown. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

In March of 2012, midway through the first half of the NCAA basketball tournament’s Eastern Regional final, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was hit with a technical foul by veteran referee Tom O’Neill. Perhaps sensing that his team was in trouble that night while playing Ohio State with a trip to the Final Four at stake, Boeheim had been carping at the officials almost from the opening tip and O’Neill decided he’d had enough and teed Boeheim up.

As it happened, I was the U.S. Basketball Writers pool reporter that night in the TD Gardens in Boston–meaning that if something occurred that required talking to the officials, it was my job to do so. The NCAA has strict rules about allowing the pool reporter access to the officials. You can’t just say, ‘I’d like to ask about the block-charge call at the end of the game.’ It has to involve a rules interpretation; something that occurred that was confusing to those watching–and even then, there’s no guarantee the request will be granted–or the reasoning behind a technical foul.

The game had tipped off after 7 o’clock on a Saturday night, which meant that every print reporter in the building was facing some sort of tight deadline. As soon as Boeheim got nailed, the reporters from Syracuse were at my seat to make sure I knew they’d want an explanation since a Boeheim technical in Syracuse is only slightly more important than a Presidential address in Washington.

Understanding all that, I got O’Neill’s attention at halftime while he was waiting for the clock to wind down to start the second half. I know a lot of officials and get along with most of them quite well. O’Neill certainly falls into that category. And so, when he walked over to say hello, I explained I was the pool reporter that night and needed to know why he had tee Boeheim up.

Tommy shrugged and said–going from memory here so I may not be 100 percent accurate but this is the jist of it: “He’d been up since the beginning and I told him enough. He gave me one of these (O’Neill put his hands over his head and brought them down with his palms down in an ‘aah, the heck with you,’ kind of way) and I said, that’s it and gave him the tech.”

I thanked him and went right to the Syracuse guys and read them the quote, since I knew it was important to them. Then I returned to my seat, typed up the quote and sent it to the local media coordinator to distribute to everyone else. It never occurred to me that I’d done anything wrong.

But I had–in more ways than one.

When the game ended–Ohio State won–I headed for the interview room, hoping to grab a couple of fast quotes for my column. There would be no time to go to the locker rooms (which I prefer) because of deadline and because the NCAA consistently breaks its own rules on the so-called postgame, ‘cooling off,’ periods.

I was standing in the back of the room when Ron Wellman, Wake Forest’s longtime athletic director, tapped me on the shoulder. Wellman was on the basketball committee.

“We’ve got a problem,” Wellman said.

“A problem?” I repeated–puzzled.

Wellman nodded. “You spoke to Tom O’Neill during the game and you did it without a CBS representative present.”

“So?”

“That’s against our rules. The pool reporter is only supposed to speak to the lead official and only after the game and only with someone from CBS in the room.”

Wow–I had struck out–three rules, three violations. I was a very bad boy. I also didn’t really care. I’d done what I had to do for my colleagues and if the NCAA was upset with me, that just meant it was a day that ended in Y.

“So, fine Ron, I apologize.”

Wellman shook his head. “You don’t understand. We aren’t going to distribute the quote you sent to the coordinator. You have to come talk to John Higgins (the lead official) with Lesley Visser (from CBS) and then use his quote.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Dumb question. NCAA committee members don’t kid.

The fact that I was on deadline trying to do the job I’m paid to do didn’t bother Wellman. The fact that O’Neill had explained the technical perfectly didn’t matter either. The RULES mattered.

So, because I had volunteered as the pool reporter and couldn’t just blow it off no matter how dumb the NCAA rules were, I trudged to the officials locker room with Wellman. Lesley, an old friend, was there. She was rolling her eyes. CBS was OFF THE AIR but there she was following the rules. We were ushered inside. O’Neill–who had no doubt been admonished for (gasp!) talking to me–was nowhere in sight. Higgins said Boeheim had been teed up for, “bench decorum,”–no kidding. I turned to leave.

“We need you to type this up,” Wellman said.

“Have CBS do it,” I replied. I was done now.

John Adams, then the NCAA officiating supervisor said, “John’s on deadline, Ron. I’ll take care of it.”

Not surprisingly, the NCAA fired Adams three years later. He was too good a guy to work for them.

The point of this long-winded story is this: officials in EVERY sport are over-protected. Why should a player or coach who has cost his team a game have to answer questions but officials only do it under certain circumstances, with a supervisor hovering to make sure a real Q and A can’t take place?

On Saturday night, one of the worst officiating debacles EVER took place on the last play of the Duke-Miami game. Forget the missed block in the back; the flag picked up on a different block; the Miami player on the field. All that matters is this: one of the Miami players involved in the eight-lateral touchdown had his knee CLEARLY down.

Okay, the officials on the field missed it. That’s what replay is for, right? It will get fixed that way.

Except when the replay official–in this case someone named Andrew Panucci–is incompetent. Somehow, Panucci took nine minutes–NINE MINUTES–to look at the play and still got it wrong. Was Panucci or the game referee available to the media postgame? No. That left Duke Coach David Cutcliffe to say he had no idea what had happened because no one even explained it to HIM.

A day later, the ACC suspended all 10 game officials–eight on the field; two in the press box–for two weeks and admitted they had totally screwed up the final play. Commissioner John Swofford came out with some silly quote about how important good officiating is to the ACC. For the record: ACC football officiating has been awful since I was an undergraduate 100 years ago. The only time I ever saw a WINNING coach chase officials off the field in my life was in a game at Duke (yup, same place) when Navy Coach Paul Johnson sprinted after them to scream even though his team had overcome their god-awful work to win the game.

Swofford SHOULD have fired Panucci on the spot. Clearly, he’s not competent. And, he SHOULD have reversed the outcome of the game. PLEASE do not give me this, ‘the rules say once the officials leave the field the game is over,’ garbage. The point is to do justice. All Swofford had to do was say: ‘this is a unique and extraordinary circumstance because the game was, in fact over, if the officials had gotten the call right. Justice is more important than citing a rule book.’

Let the NCAA–or Miami–try to reverse that and watch them get buried by public sentiment. For once, Swofford would actually have done something to earn his salary besides looking good in a suit.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig had a similar opportunity in 2010 when umpire Jim Joyce botched the last call of what would have been a perfect game for Armando Galarraga. Since it was the 27th out, Selig could have simply said: ‘the game ended with that play.’

Selig said he couldn’t do it–because it would set precedent. First, what is so wrong with setting precedent? Second, the precedent existed, dating to the 1983 ‘pine tar,’ game when George Brett hit a two-run home run for the Kansas City Royals with two outs in the ninth inning and the Royals trailing the Yankees, 4-3. The Yankees claimed that Brett’s bat had too much pine tar on it–according to the rules–and Brett was called out by the umpires. Thus, the game ended, 4-3.

Everyone left the field–just as at Duke Saturday night. American League president Lee McPhail reviewed the incident and restored the Brett home run. The game was picked up a month later with the Royals up 5-4 in the ninth and they won the game. There’s your precedent–in baseball AND in other sports–if you need it.

At least Jim Joyce was man enough to speak to the media after his gaffe–admitting his mistake. He even went into the Tigers clubhouse to apologize to Galarraga.

Of course no one has heard a word from Panucci–and we won’t. He’ll be ‘protected,’ by the ACC and–amazingly–will work again.

This is the larger problem: In all sports, officials aren’t held accountable the way coaches and athletes are held accountable. No one is saying their locker room should be open to all media but if the assigned pool reporter requests access postgame, he should get it–no questions asked. Like players and coaches, officials always have the option to NOT answer a question. The irony is, in most cases–as with O’Neill in Boston–they look BETTER by telling their side, even when they get a call wrong. Joyce became a hero for manning up after he blew the call in Detroit.

I’m as tired of blown calls as everyone else. I’m more tired of officials being allowed to hide behind rules made up by people who care only about their image. Of course they all miss the point: the minute you admit you’re wrong and you’re sorry, everyone starts to forgive you.

And, when a mistake can be corrected REGARDLESS OF WHAT SOME RULE BOOK SAYS–correct it. Sadly, that would take guts, something sorely lacking in those who run sports–ESPECIALLY at the college level.

NCFAA

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